Good Spirits by B.K. Borison
Series: Ghosted #1
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday
Published by HarperCollins on October 21, 2025
Also by this author: Lovelight Farms
Format: Audio/Physical (352 pages) • Source: Purchased, Spotify Audiobooks
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The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller!
“Good Spirits is an absolute knockout. A new Borison book feels like coming home in the best way. She's truly in a league of her own.” — Hannah Grace, New York Times bestselling author of Icebreaker
The USA Today bestselling author of Business Casual, B.K. Borison is back with a whimsical new holiday romance—this time with a magical twist—that will have everyone falling in love with the Ghost of Christmas Past.
He’s the Ghost of Christmas Past. She’s not exactly Scrooge.
Ghost of Christmas Past Nolan Callahan intends to spend this holiday haunting like every other—get in, get out, return to his otherwise aimless existence as a ghost awaiting the afterlife. But when he’s faced with Harriet York, the sweetest assignment he’s ever had, he suddenly finds himself wishing for a future.
Harriet York has no idea why she’s being haunted. She’s a good person—or, at least, she tries to be. A people pleaser to her core, she always does what’s expected of her. But as she and Nolan begin to examine her past, they discover there are threads that bind them together— and realize there might be more to moving on than expected.
With the deadline of Christmas Eve fast approaching, will they find the key to their futures in each other’s pasts? Or will they stay firmly in the present, indulging in their unexpected, spirited connection?
Filled with magic, mayhem, and cozy holiday charm, this swoony romance is B.K. Borison’s best yet!
- A touching holiday read
- Perfect for fans of uplifting winter romances
- A delightful Christmas gift
Story
I’ve read one other holiday book from BK Borison and thought it was pretty good. I knew this one would be a must-read this Christmas season because it contains one of my favorite premises – A Christmas Carol retelling or reimagining. This one follows a good girl named Harriet getting visited by Nolan, the Ghost of Christmas Past. As the two go into her memories, they struggle to understand why she’s being visited in the first place. She’s not a bad person and doesn’t seem to need to atone for anything. When their visits to the past start changing, they wonder if there’s something else going on.
This ended up being super cute! Quite a few elements worked for me, especially the depth of emotion from the characters as they experienced each other’s loneliness. There were some heartbreaking moments without being overtly sad like some other Christmas books I’ve read this year lol. I wish there was less instalove though.
Wintery Setting & Holiday Feels
The premise obviously surrounds Christmas due to the whole Ghost of Christmas Past thing. The main character is a big fan of Christmas as well. I really expected there to be more Christmas feels but there really wasn’t a lot more than what I just mentioned.
Overall
I’m intrigued to see what the second book in this series looks like or is about because there’s a whole world of “magical creatures” (for lack of a better word) like reapers who were referenced during the story. I hope the series continues with other people/creatures? like that getting their own books, rather than all of them being ghosts.
I received this book for free (hey, thanks!) in exchange for an honest review. I promise that this does NOT affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. For real.
A Little Holiday Fling by Farah Heron Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday
Published by Grand Central Publishing on October 21, 2025
Also by this author: Accidentally Engaged, Kamila Knows Best, Jana Goes Wild, Just Playing House
Format: eARC (368 pages) • Source: Publisher
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The highly acclaimed author of Accidentally Engaged delivers a heartwarming holiday romance, full of grumpy/sunshine vibes.
There are two things that Ruby Dhanji loves with her whole entire heart: Christmas and anything to do with the UK. For Ruby the holiday season means joy, generosity, and warm memories with her late mother. And now she’s on the verge of realizing the dream she and her mom always had: moving to England and opening a cozy inn. The only problem, Ruby needs some hotel experience first.
Rashid just doesn’t get all the holiday hype. But when he meets a woman dragging home a Christmas tree alone from the Winter Market, he has to offer to help—even if he soon finds Ruby adores all the things he dislikes. When Ruby discovers that Rashid’s family owns a luxury boutique hotel chain in Britain, she offers him a proposition: she’ll help him give his young nieces an amazing Christmas if he’ll facilitate an introduction to his family.
As Ruby and Rashid get closer, she realizes that the great big grump loves his large, eccentric family fiercely. And when their friendship turns to something more, she’s afraid she’s falling for someone weeks before she moves across the Atlantic and she’ll soon have to decide which dream she wants to chase.
Story
I’ve loved Farah Heron’s books and think she’s extremely underrated in the romance space. This book prompted me to text a friend and recommend her books midway through reading it. This story follows Christmas lover Ruby and Christmas hater Rashid. The two of them end up around each other a few times and the early portion of the book (honestly half of it) has them arguing or having miscommunications with each other. Rashid is kind of unlikeable at first and it really takes a while for the grumpiness to turn into something else. I was genuinely afraid he’d never turn it around for me. Once the two of them start their fling, his true personality comes through.
There was a lot of great family feels in this one, both good and bad. Ruby’s mom passed away (the aunt that was referenced in one of Heron’s other books – they’re all interconnected and have the same friend group at the center) and her father is a real piece of work. Rashid’s family, on the other hand, is so lovely, supportive, and a bit meddlesome.
There were moments where I wanted to shake Ruby but the characters did a good job of doing that for me. Her goal throughout the book is to move to the UK and open an inn, which was always her goal with her mom. She has her visa, she’s moving in a month, and nothing can stop her. This is why they have a ~fling~ and try to leave it at that. I really loved watching their relationship SLOWLY unfold.
Wintery Setting & Holiday Feels
The book takes place in Toronto and there are a ton of holiday events and locations described throughout. The entire premise of Rashid and Ruby’s relationship/fling involves them taking his two nieces out for Christmas adventures. I appreciated how many Christmas events were included in this because it felt like a perfect book for the season. There were also a lot of conversations about how Christmas can be for everyone (even those who are not Christian, like Ruby), which I appreciated as a Christmas lover and atheist.
Overall
This is such a lovely holiday story. It got to a point where I couldn’t stop reading and was so eager to see how Rashid and Ruby made it work. Heron does a good job of writing characters with strong personalities and convictions; they can be messy and sometimes annoying but you love them anyways. This, so far, has been the most Christmassy book I’ve read this season as well!
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